Minutes: October 5, 2018
WTA Meeting
October 5, 2018
The 10/05/18 face to face Board of Director’s meeting of the Wisconsin Trapshooting Association was called to order at 6:04pm by Fritz Thistle, President. Directors present were S/E Dick Otto, N/W Tate Barwald, N/E Don Chrapla and N/E Bob Ebbers, S/W LaVerne Lehmann, S/E Jerry Kaszynski, 1st Alt. Delegate Dwight Paulin, 2nd Alt. Delegate Fritz Thistle, Treasurer Arlene Otto, Secretary/Shoot Coordinator Amy Jenkins. Absent was ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring.
Also present at the meeting: Bill Simonar, Ed Borske, Bill Lorenz, Kelsey Lorenz, Pete Rustad, Richard and Catheryn Johnson, Lisa Rouse
Meeting started at 6:04pm.
Fritz said that we may go into a closed session if needed for personnel reasons.
Secretary’s Report:
Amy gave an update on camping and the waiting list that exists already. She gave an update on Rover Pass and their request to book our campsites, but they charge up to 15% on top of the rate to the customer. There was no interest in pursuing this.
Treasurer’s Report:
There is $111, 000 in checking account and $23,000 in Homegrounds account. However, the Homegrounds will owe money back to the WTA for back rent. Arlene received a call from the Department of Revenue regarding sales and use tax from 2016; the refund was for the RV park. Estimated taxes were done but never filed. We will need to file them by the end of October. Once a new treasurer is selected, we will want to meet with the accountant to keep the campground and shooting facility as one entity. As long as the campground income stays under 20% it will not affect the 501(c)(3) status. The combined water and electric bill for the entire facility (Trap and Campground) is $20,734 year to date. Combined June, July and August for the campground was $9825 and for the trap grounds was $8090. Arlene said that we still need to be careful on our expenditures for this year yet. We had $10,000 to pay to Schenk for the audits that we needed to complete.
Don made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report. Tate seconded it. So carried.
Treasurer Replacement:
Treena Theobold was interested in the position. She works for their own business and is a former town treasurer. She is only available Friday, Saturday Sunday during the state shoot. She will be here this Sunday to meet with the BOD. Taylor Ebbers is also interested. She is willing to go to school for Quickbooks; however, Kevin Schutz said that he was willing to train her and a day would be more than sufficient. She lives close to Arlene. She would be available for the entire week of the state shoot. The pay is $300 a month. Fritz said that there could be a discussion about earning more during the state shoot due to the huge responsibility. Taylor is interested in the position for the long term.
Dwight made a motion to hire Taylor Ebbers as the new treasurer. LaVerne seconded it. So carried.
FofWTA Update:
Amy read the financial update from John Coniff. Current balance in the account is $11,849. Deposits and checks make the working capital $10,549. They would like the Board to approve the purchase of Constant Contact to use as an email marketing system. Lisa Rouse says it is a great program and would work great for the organization.
Don made a motion to approve John to purchase Constant Contact. Tate seconded it.
Building Update:
The walls are the next phase for the building. Two bids were received and came in at $5860 and $8500. Chops finished the shelving in the mechanical room. We will still need to paint after the walls are done.
Dwight made a motion to accept the bid from Ruesch Drywall for $5860. Don seconded it. So carried.
Security System:
Fritz still has the one bid for the system for $1900. He is still trying to get another estimate but it has been over a month and he has not heard anything back. We have a safe now that was donated from Recob’s. Fritz will invite the business with the current bid to come to the next meeting to discuss the system.
Don made a motion to postpone this until next month. Dwight seconded it. So carried.
Briley Trap Repair:
Fritz contacted Briley for some options to fix the machines. First estimate is for two guys to drive up from Texas and go through the machines for $6100; second estimate is for two guys to fly up here and go through the machines for $3200; 3rd estimate is to buy two traps for $7790; 4th estimate is to buy a new carousel but we do not know if that is the problem for $600; 5th estimate is to ship the machine to them, they will fix it and return back to us for $425 plus whatever they incur for costs once it gets there; it would be back in about a month. Bruce Nelson thought that December would be a good month to do it.
Don made a motion to accept the 5th estimate (to ship it to Briley and have it fixed and shipped back). Dick seconded. So carried.
Camper Donation:
Bruce Wiegmann donated a camper and titled it in the WTA name. Trade in value is $9500; and used retail is $14,300. Value of the camper is $14,300. Amy will complete a donation letter. This camper will be available for anyone that wants to come here and work and stay overnight.
Fritz said that there is an accepted offer on the 40 acre parcel that we discussed at the last meeting and it would be to the benefit of the WTA. More details to come when we know more about it and the deal is completed.
Grounds Caretaker/Custodian/Manager
Pete sent an email to the BOD with a lot of questions about the position and the grounds. Fritz said that we likely are not in a position to pay this person like a full-time position. The BOD would still run the facility but would just not be on grounds every weekend. This person could utilize the camper was donated by Bruce W. Discussion about having a host in the campground and one to run the line and they work together. Tate said that we need to be able to say this is what we can afford and you have a camper to live in, are you willing to do it for that? Arlene suggested if there is a way for the current BOD to be able to cover next summer to try to come up with a cushion to be able to pay someone in 2020. Tate asked is it worth to pay someone a dollar amount if we are not gaining any profit from the trapshooting. Pete suggested possibly having marathon targets once a month to get more shooters here. Discussion was held on whether or not we are making a profit by being open every weekend from May to October. Fritz suggested that everyone think about this and come back next month with some ideas to put on the table so that we are not waiting until Spring to take care of coverage for the summer.
Lisa’s update:
Lisa did some advertising for us in the local newspaper. She has been trying to bulk up the Homegrounds Facebook page. There will be direct mailings going out as well. Lisa is asking how she should market the grounds = trapshooting together with campground or separately. Lisa will plan to build a Homegrounds website so people can go to that website instead of the witrapshooters.com website to avoid confusion. Discussion was held about possibly creating a website for online reservations for the campground but there were concerns about who would manage the website when people were driving in and picking a site to camp on, who would then mark that site unavailable on the website. Until there is a decision on the camphost or a grounds person, it was decided to not pursue online reservations at this time.
Calendar of Events:
May 4 & 5 – WTA Registered Shoot
May 11 – Kettle Moraine
May 18 & 19 – WI JO Qualifier
June 1 & 2 – WI SCTP International Trap Championships
June 8 & 9 – High School Clay Target League
June 21 – 23 – WI SCTP Championship
July 8 – WTA Registered Marathon Shoot
July 9 – 14 – WI State Shoot
September 6 – Mid-State Technical College
Unknown – WI Fall Classic
Bill Simonar:
The Simonar family and a group of others have purchased the $8000 balance on Trap 24. Jerry from Erbert and Gerbert will take the $1300 balance. This will leave two trap fields to be sponsored.
Miscellaneous:
There is a vacancy in the Northwest zone. Richard Johnson was interested but does not want to commit but is willing to come down and work for a weekend or two and would like to have a specific job for the state shoot to alleviate some work for others at the state shoot. After further discussion he agreed to take the position.
Tate made a recommendation to have Richard Johnson to fill the NW Zone Director Position. He accepted. Don made a motion to have Rich fill the NW Zone Direction. His position will be up for election at the 2020 Zone Shoot. Dick seconded. So carried.
A mixture of fertilizer, lime and grass seed was spread in mid-September over the entire trap line from 50 feet in front of the trap houses to the parking area. Grass is already growing.
State Shoot Event 1 was sponsored by Fritz last year. He said he would sponsor again if a new sponsor could not be found. However, we would like to keep Event 1 named Moser Singles. If a new sponsor was found, the name would then change. Should the WTA then sponsor Event 1 yearly for $500?
Dick made a motion to retain Event 1 as Moser Singles to be paid by the WTA. Bob seconded. So carried.
Tate said that we will have to do the water on east vendor row in the spring.
We reviewed the proposal from Paul Becker about making a new site in the campground to be 101 West and 101 East. They are willing to pay for all of the expenses for water, sewer and electric and pay for the concrete pad. Don and Jerry with talk to the person that has currently camped on 101 to make sure he is okay with moving to 102. All work will be coordinated by the WTA and invoices will be paid by Paul and his group.
Tate made a motion to approve the plan after talking to the previous camper. Don seconded it. So carried. (Follow-up: no issues from current camper on W101)
Second bunker may be donated by Midway Foundation. Fritz needs to call them to follow up.
Closing:
We will close the grounds on Saturday, October 20. The trap range will be closed after shooting on Sunday, October 7th.
Nekoosa Bonus:
Discussion was held about the bonus for the Nekoosa youth for their work this summer.
Don made a motion to pay the Nekoosa youth a bonus of $5000. Tate seconded. So carried.
Don made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Jerry seconded it. So carried.
Meeting adjourned at 8:56pm.
Next meeting will be November 10th at Sherwood Lodge at 9am.